Little Miss Sunshine 2006(UK) 101min., with Alan Arkin
Seven-year-old Olive dreams of winning a children's beauty pageant and convinces her family to drive her from their home in New Mexico to California for the Little Miss Sunshine competition. Along the way the family must deal with crushed dreams, heartbreaks, and a broken-down VW bus, leading up to the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition itself. On their travels through this bizarre landscape, they learn to trust and support each other along the path of life, no matter what the challenge
Notes on a Scandal 2007(UK) 92min
Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett deliver Oscar worthy performances in this mind-boggling psychological thriller. Barbara Covett (Dench) is a lonely teacher who finds friendship in a fellow instructor, Sheba Hart (Blanchett). But when Barbara uncovers Sheba's illicit affair with a teenage student, her jealousy and rage spiral out of control
Perfume 2006(UK) 148 min., with Dustin Hoffman, Ben Wishaw and Rachael Hurd-Wood
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of eighteenth century Paris, develops a superior sense of smell, and he uses this talent to create the world's finest perfumes. Strangely lacking any scent of his own, he becomes obsessed with capturing the irresistible but elusive aroma of young womanhood. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he unrelentingly tries to collect all the ingredients for this ultimate perfume.
Walk the Line 2006(UK) 130min., with Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reece Witherspoon as June Carter
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. 2...With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as deep and black as night, Cash sang blistering songs of heartache and survival that were gutsy, full of real life and unlike anything heard before"
Becoming Jane 2007(UK) 120min. Cert PG, with Anne Hathaway, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, James Cromwell.
Loosley based on facts, this is the story of the romance that inspired Jane Austen, the 20-year-old, independent-minded emerging writer. Her parents are searching for a wealthy, well-appointed husband to assure their daughter's future social standing, but Jane meets the roguish and decidedly non-aristocratic Tom Lefroy. Sparks soon fly along with the sharp repartee. His intellect and arrogance raise her ire - then knock her head over heels'.
Curse of the Golden Flower 2006(UK) 114min. Cert R, with Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Liu Ye, Chen Jin, Jay Chou.
A period high drama that concerns the volatile balance of power between the King and the Queen and his three sons, which entails betrayal, deceit and passion--pitting the King against Queen and father against sons. It unfolds--during the Later Tang Dynasty
Atonement 2007(UK) 130min. Cert 15, with Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave.
On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching Cecilia is their housekeeper's son Robbie Turner. By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination, and Briony will have committed a dreadful crime, the guilt for which will colour her entire life.
Veronica Guerin 2003(UK) 98min. Cert 15, with Cate Blanchett, Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds
A film based on the true story of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin. Guerin was a reporter for the Dublin Sunday Independent who uncovered and exposed some of the country's biggest drug lords. Guerin's life was later cut short by the killers hired by the drug lords she wrote about.
Grow Your Own 2007(UK) 97min with Benedict Wong, Eddie Marsan, Philip Jackson, Omid Djalili
The film inspired by a project in Liverpool that gives asylum seekers a chance to overcome their recent traumas through caring for an allotment. A refugee family are given a plot of land to help rehabilitate their traumatised father. At first they are met with suspicion by the men who have worked the gardens for years but eventually they are accepted into a diverse community united by their love of making things grow.
West Side Story 1961(UK) 152min. Cert PG, with Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris.
This brilliant film sets the ageless story of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. A love affair is fated for tragedy amidst the vicious rivalry of two street gangs -the Jets and the Sharks.
La Vie en Rose 2007 140 min. Cert 12A. With Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanulle Seigner, Gerard Depardieu.
This French drama explores the often troubled life of the Singer Edith Piaf as her fame takes her from the back streets of Paris to the bright lights of America. While singing on the streets of Paris as a teen, Piaf is discovered by club owner Louis Leplee and this chance encounter changes her life. Her powerful voice takes her all over the globe, but it can’t guard her from pain and suffering.
The Kite Runner 2007 128 min. Cert PG. With Khalid Abdalla, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, Atossa Leoni
Based on the award winning book by Khaled Hosseini and set in an Afghanistan on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan are about to be torn apart for ever by a fearful act of betrayal which will mark their lives forever. After 20 years of living in America, Amir returns to a perilous Afghanistan under the Taliban’s iron fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right.
The Other Boleyn Girl 2008 115 mins. Cert. 12A With Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, and Kristin Scott Thomas
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family’s blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VII.
Midnight Drives 2007(Cornwall) 94 mins. A Mark Jenkins film starring Colin Holt, Sam Mills, Megan Robertson.
Poised, poignant and very moving film about a divorcee struggling to communicate with his estranged children on an ill-considered out of season Cornish holiday. It was shot entirely on location in West Penwith during 2007 -see the Midnight Drives web site.
Sunrise 1927 (USA) 110 mins. With George O’Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
‘Sunrise’ subtitled ‘ A Song Of Two Humans’ is a story of a countryman and his wife whose lives are invaded by a femme fatale. A silent black and white story of temptation, reconciliation and redemption told with a lyrical simplicity of timelessness and universality.
The director, F. W. Murnau, created the perfect synthesis of American and German silent cinema. Hailed by Cahiers du Cinema critics as the greatest film of all time, it won the very first Oscar for cinematography.
At this showing, Sunrise is accompanied by a live soundtrack from ‘Wurlitza’, a five piece band from St Germans which specialises in adding live soundtracks to films, bringing a contemporary twist to the timeless genre of silent cinema that is enjoyable and accessible to all ages.
Wurlitza’s line up comprises Claire Abbott on percussion and vocals, Lil Lanyon on guitar, vocals and drums, Kath Revell on guitar and vocals, Dave Stroud on bass guitar, and Lizzy Stroud on keyboard, clarinet and vocals
December 2008
Harold and Maude 1971 92 min. Cert. AA With Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort
Harold is a depressed, death-obsessed 20-year-old man-child who spends his free time attending funerals and committing suicide in front of his mother, but he does not die. At a funeral, Harold befriends Maude, a 79-year-old woman who has a zest for life. She and Harold spend much time together during which she exposes him to the wonders and possibilities of life. After rejecting his mother's three attempts to set him up with a potential wife, and committing fake suicide in front of all of them, Harold announces that he is to be married to Maude. However, Maude has a surprise for Harold that is to change his life forever
